David Alfred Perdue Jr., born in Macon, Georgia, to schoolteachers David Alfred Perdue Sr. and Gervaise Wynn, was raised in Warner Robins and graduated from Northside High School in 1968 as class president and varsity athlete. He briefly attended the United States Air Force Academy but dropped out after one year due to low grades, later earning a B.S. in Industrial Engineering (1972) and M.S. in Operations Research (1975) from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Perdue had a 40-year business career as a turnaround specialist, often involving outsourcing to Asia, with key roles including management consultant at Kurt Salmon Associates (1972–1984), managing director at Gitano Group Inc. in Singapore (1991–1992), senior VP of Asia operations at Sara Lee Corporation (1992–1994), senior VP of operations at Haggar Clothing (1994–1998), president and CEO of the Reebok Brand (1998–2002), CEO of Pillowtex Corporation (2002–2003), CEO of Dollar General (2003–2007), senior consultant at Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd. (2007–2009), director of the Georgia Ports Authority (2010–2013), co-founder of Perdue Partners (2011–present), and operator at Benton Global (2012–2015). Notable business impacts include closing U.S. plants at Sara Lee, Pillowtex bankruptcy post-tenure resulting in 7,650 job losses, and Dollar General doubling stores amid lawsuits. A Republican, Perdue served as U.S. Senator from Georgia (2015–2021), winning the 2014 election with 52.9% of the vote and losing the 2020 runoff to Jon Ossoff; he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, receiving 22% in the primary against Brian Kemp's 74%. In 2024, he was nominated by President Trump as Ambassador to China, confirmed on April 29, 2025, and sworn in on May 7, 2025. Key legislative actions include co-sponsoring the RAISE Act on immigration with Tom Cotton, the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, and supporting the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Personally, he has been married to Bonnie Dunn since 1972, with sons David A. Perdue III and Blake Perdue, a daughter who died in infancy, and three grandchildren; he resides in Sea Island, Georgia, is a first cousin of Sonny Perdue, and is reported as Methodist. Controversies include criticism for outsourcing, business bankruptcies and lawsuits, a $30,000 fundraising fine in 2014, a 2020 campaign ad accused of an anti-Semitic trope, extensive Senate stock trades (2,596 transactions) profiting amid COVID-19 briefings while downplaying the pandemic, a 2018 battery lawsuit from snatching a phone at a rally, election claims against Brad Raffensperger, and a 2016 prayer against Barack Obama.